The Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12 noon ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!

In this week’s special episode of The Buzz, host Scott Luton and guest host Kristi Porter with Vector Global Logistics and Logistics with Purpose welcome three very special guests: Yaroslav Hnatusko with Restore Ukraine, Oksana Butrameeva with Mama Plant a Tree, and Vicki Bachmann with MATTER.

Listen in and learn more about the incredible work our guests are doing to contribute to humanitarian efforts and aid to Ukraine, and how you can embody our mission, ‘Deeds, not words,’ dig in, and help.

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from Those Making Global Business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:32):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton and special guest host Chrissy Porter here with you on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream, Christy, how are you doing today? I’m

Kristi Porter (00:44):

Good. I think this is the first time we’ve done this together, so I’m excited to be here with you and excited to talk about this topic. It’s going to be a good one.

Scott Luton (00:50):

It is going to be a good one, a very special one, a meaningful one, yet for the main time, an example of how a global supply chain can address needs and make it happen in a very unique and powerful way. So stay tuned for a special episode here on a lighter note. Christie, I’m looking forward to seeing pictures of your recent visits to, can we tell people? Can we tell people to the Grand Canyon? I’ve heard how mesmerizing it is, Christie, we’ve

Kristi Porter (01:14):

All seen countless pictures of the Grand Canyon, so I knew it was going to be grand, but that first day, I don’t know how many times, I said, wow, wow, wow. I was walking on the, there’s a rim trail that’s about 14 miles that you can just kind of walk along on the South Rim. And the guy behind me was like, I just can’t take my eyes off of it. And I felt the exact same way everywhere. I have probably a thousand photos of just like, okay, I’m a foot over here. I’m a little bit different here because it’s just incredible. And the second day was even better. It snowed and sleeted and I thought it was going to be gross. And so I’d planned to stay inside and do all the little inside tours and things like that. And then the skies parted and the clouds receded, and it was more overwhelming than I could have imagined. I started crying. It was crazy. I wanted to retake all the pictures I had taken the day before.

Scott Luton (02:08):

I can’t wait to dive in more. We’ve only had a couple minutes to kind of talk about your trip, so I’m looking forward to sharing more. Sounds like an incredible trip of a lifetime. Well, great to have you back, Christie. Appreciate what you and the whole Vector Global Logistics team does each and every day. And really today’s show is a big illustration of that. We have three incredible leaders, but it’s the buzz folks. It comes at you every Monday at 12 in Eastern time. Typically, we focus on global news that you got to know along with some analysis from a practitioner’s perspective. However, today, Christie, we’ve got a very special edition because as I mentioned, we’re going to be focusing on the power of global supply chain to truly do good with impact and outcomes. Christie and the team over at Vector Global Logistics have been leading efforts to send humanitarian aid with plenty of partners to families in need over Ukraine and the greater region for a couple of years now. And today we’re speaking with three business leaders that have been doing incredible things in this Noble mission and beyond. Christie should be a real special show.

Kristi Porter (03:05):

Incredible. Yes, and I’m really looking forward to highlighting and spotlighting what these guys are doing as well as just what our greater leveraging logistics for Ukraine community is doing.

Scott Luton (03:15):

That’s right. And along the way, logistics with purpose. Check that out, Christie and Enrique and the whole team doing great work highlighting and amplifying leaders that are making impacts in a variety of ways. Folks, our global audience out there, happy to have you here. We want to hear from you. Give us your take in the comments throughout the show. And if you’re listening to the podcast replay, which we usually drop on Friday mornings, you ought to consider joining us live on LinkedIn, YouTube, or some other social media channel of your choosing. We would love to hear from you and if you enjoy the show today, we’d love for you to share it with a friend and your network. They will be glad that you did. Okay, Christie, before we bring on our esteem panel, I’ve got three quick resources that we want to share with folks. You ready to go?

Kristi Porter (03:57):

Let’s do it.

Scott Luton (03:58):

Alright, so rate’s kind of important. It’s kind of important thing, isn’t it, Christie? It’s great resource here from our friends at US Bank. It’s the Freight Payment Index for fourth quarter 2023. If you want to better understand what’s going on in the US domestic freight market, check it out here. We’re going to drop a link to it in the comments. You can also go to freight.us bank.com. One of my favorite parts, Christie, is each quarter, not only do they release the freight payment index, but we have them join us with an executive practitioner and we break it down region by region. So it’s not just up at the national level, we get a local flavor. That’s really important, right, Christie?

Kristi Porter (04:34):

Well, yeah, and who wants to just read graphs when you can actually hear the experts talk about it? That

Scott Luton (04:38):

Is so true, so true. So check it out. We’re dropping a link there in the chat. Also over the weekend we published, with that said, space supply chain was one of our themes. So I’m a big space nerd, self describe space nerd Chrissy, are you as well?

Kristi Porter (04:52):

Absolutely, yes. I was excited to read this one. And anytime I’m in a new city, if there’s any sort of Space Museum or anything like that, natural history and space museums, I’m at those two.

Scott Luton (05:02):

Awesome. I’m with you. We got a lot to talk about after today. We do.

(05:06):

No kidding. We got to make up for lost time. But space supply chain was a big theme here. Of course, last week was a big week in space as humanity landed on the moon for the first time for a US company in history, all other moon missions have been reliant on governmental agencies. So that’s pretty exciting. So check it out. We got our live events for the next week or two there as well. And be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a single edition. And finally, national Supply Chain Day is back. Christie, mark your calendars April 29th led by its founder, Mary Kate. Love a member of our team here. And if you want to get involved, folks, send a note to NSCD. It’s an acronym for National Supply chainDay@supplychainnow.com. nscd@supplychainnow.com to get involved. But most importantly, circle that date on the as we look forward to celebrating all the wonderful people and innovations and you name it, the impact that global supply chain has on every single day on this planet. Christie should be exciting, huh?

Kristi Porter (06:07):

Yeah, it’s going to be a good day. And it’s always good when we get to celebrate something positive. It’s supply chain.

Scott Luton (06:13):

So true. It’s so true. Alright, also big shout out to Catherine and Amanda behind the scenes helping to make production happen. So let’s get into it. Looking forward to introducing three leaders here today. I’m going to go ahead and introduce ’em and then we’re going to swoosh ’em in from the green room. We have Yaro co-founder and executive director with Restore Ukraine With us joining Yaro is Ana Reva, founder at Mama Plant a Tree, and Vicki Bachman, vice President of Business Partnerships With Matter. Let’s bring him in. Hey Yaro, how you doing?

Yaroslav Hnatusko (06:48):

Doing well, thank you very much for hosting us. It’s a big privilege like you in the very beginning, call us leaders and for us to be a voice of many Ukrainian people and also international aid.

Scott Luton (07:02):

Yaro, what a great way to open and thanks so much for what you do, Ana, welcome. How you doing?

Oksana Butrameeva (07:07):

Appreciate it. Appreciate to be here. Christie, Scott, you’re doing a huge job, us letting us broadcast to wider audience abroad, especially in the us Thank you so much.

Scott Luton (07:17):

You bet. Great to have you here. And Vicki, thanks so much for joining us.

Vicki Bachmann (07:21):

Thank you. Good to see you all. Hello from Minnesota. It’s an honor to be on the show today.

Scott Luton (07:26):

Wonderful Vicky. Wonderful. Thanks for being here. Alright, so Christy, we’ve got quite a conversation teed up. We’ve got a lot to get to over in the next 45 minutes. Before I do, Christy, I got to tell you, we’re going to talk about probably throughout the session, some things we do in this journey where we get a ton of fulfillment because we’re really helping folks in an really actionable way. That’s our calling in this lifetime. So Christie, before we get into it, before I start posing questions to our panel, talk about how fulfilling it is to bring people together to get stuff done and really help others. Christie?

Kristi Porter (07:56):

Yeah, I have the news on all day long because every hour of the hour there’s something to do with supply chain. It’s usually not positive, it’s usually something is happening, something’s going on, something is so to do things like this where we actually get to help make a positive impact. Enrique, who’s on here a lot, our managing director at Vector Logistics likes to say that logistics is just another vehicle for changing the world. And that’s truly our guiding principle. We ship all kinds of stuff for all kinds of clients, but we also do it to make a social impact. And so getting to be able to talk to individuals like these regularly, we have more scheduled conversations and then keep in touch throughout. It’s what our team loves to do. It’s what I love to do. But yeah, the ability for logistics to change lives is monumental. And so being able to have just a small role in that is incredible.

Scott Luton (08:51):

I’m with you, well said. And gosh, we’re going to be illustrating a lot of what you shared here with Vicki Sana and Yarro. So let’s get into it. So Yarro, we’ll start with you here today. Great to have you here on the heels of a really big event we may touch on here in a minute. Love what you’ve been doing. Share with us though about your nonprofit, restore Ukraine. Tell us what it does and tell us some of the outcomes that you’ve been able to drive.

Yaroslav Hnatusko (09:12):

So to share a little bit more about restore Ukraine, since the war started in February, 2022, it has been a reflection of humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. So we started as a private fundraiser. We just asked friends and family and everybody else. I went through my contact list on my LinkedIn network, everybody who I had the contact to connect with, I asked for money and that way it allowed us to start immediate crisis relief aid on the ground in Ukraine. And we were functioning within 20 to 30 mile range from the border with Russia. That’s exactly where the invasion started. We quickly realized that the war will not last for a month or two or three, that the war will be long and exhaustive for everybody. So we immediately started converting from the distribution of hot mills, which was the immediate need in the beginning of war and the renovation of the bump shelters to now what we call our portfolio where we distribute construction materials, hygiene products, medical aid and rehabilitation of the damaged households because the need evolves and the damage to infrastructure sadly evolves too, as well as large damage to the economy as a country.

(10:28):

So people continue to be in very devastating situation. So we had to broaden that portfolio. But now in terms of our output, in two years we have raised over $2 million to rate it starting from private.

Scott Luton (10:43):

Wow. $2 million.

Yaroslav Hnatusko (10:45):

Yes. So when we started, of course we were raising a little over a thousand dollars a day, but to these organizations that we are to date where we have put our organization on a map for a lot of our partnerships and for a lot of donors on the ground and liberated communities, but that to over $2 million amounted also to almost 3 million pounds of the humanitarian supplies that we distributed. When I was referring to construction materials, hygiene products, that’s the cumulative of how we were able to spend over $2 million and we were able to help over 50,000 people. Of course, the range of help amounts from several thousand dollars per person to several thousand dollars per family or to just several dollars per foot kit. But overall we help over 50,000 people close to the frontline.

Scott Luton (11:40):

Wow, okay. Amazing. Yeah. Christy got to get you to weigh in here, just the numbers that Yaro is sharing, $2 million raised in two years, 3 million pounds of humanitarian supplies and to help 50,000 people in that degree of scale. Chrisa your quick comments.

Kristi Porter (11:55):

Yeah, it’s been incredible to watch. We met Yaro early on and have been able to kind of witness this from a little bit of the sidelines and then making some connections and helping with the shipping and all of that. And yeah, it’s been amazing to watch. It’s been an incredible leader in this and in always trying to come up with new initiatives and ways and I love the way that they have pivoted their portfolio to now rebuilding efforts as well. And that’s one of the great things about our community is that there’s such a depth of how people are helping in different ways and have had to pivot too.

Scott Luton (12:27):

Yeah, well said. And really quick, Vicky, we’re going to get into matter here in a few minutes, but if you would comment, because I think you and Yaro have collaborated quite a bit together. Any comments on your end Vicki?

Vicki Bachmann (12:37):

We have, Yaro and I have been working together for a few years now almost since the beginning when we started to provide medical supplies to organizations like Restore Ukraine and some others. We have a few employees here at our nonprofit that have lived in Ukraine for years doing mission work. And so it’s a place that is very near and dear to our hearts. And so we are grateful for the partnership that we have with Yarro and some of the others. We have shipped many containers of supplies and equipment through Yaras organization who have reached people in Ukraine.

Scott Luton (13:10):

Yes, man, goodness gracious. So Yara, I got one quick question since you’ve already shared some of the outcomes, which I love really highlighting the outcomes. So hopefully folks, it’ll attract people to the effort to give and to support because man, it goes to so many people, over 50,000 people as you pointed out. So tell us about really quick Yaro, this big event you had because I believe you are amplifying and promoting Ukrainian art to help with raising aid. Is that right? Yaro? Tell us about it.

Yaroslav Hnatusko (13:38):

Correct. The idea behind the scenes now is for us to give much more sincere and personal testimonies of the people in Ukraine. And we were thinking of the medium to do that. And we have decided to proceed with art because in a lot of ways, even with me right now, station in the us, all the stories that I would share, they would come from a third person and we wanted to do it from the witnesses and from the victims of war. So we have called all the Ukrainian exhibition in Ukraine that was 20 miles away from the border with Russia and we gave them an assignment, please paint about Ukraine, about Ukrainian culture, heritage and people. And they have come up with very extraordinary and very unique ways to illustrate what people are experiencing now. So a lot of paintings have actually come very vibrant that illustrate the hope of the people for the country, for the economy, for their neighborhoods, for their families. So that way when people come to our exhibitions and auctions, they can clearly see the emotional state because the way I interpret art is whatever is portrait on the painting, you have to go through it, you have to filter it. And that way they get a much more tangible feeling of what their life is in Ukraine.

Scott Luton (14:56):

Wow, I think this last week’s was your biggest event yet. In fact folks, we are dropping a link to that we can learn more. How about that quote? This is my frontline man, y’all check that out. Maybe, who knows? Maybe some folks out there want to host one of Yaros next events. Really appreciate your thoughts there. Not just on art, but really we’re talking about the power of supply chain that’s kind of like the power of the arts, which I love. Yaro, what a powerful intersection. Alright, so moving right along, Oksana, goodness gracious, it’s been so nice to meet you and learn more about your story. And if I’m not mistaken, and sadly really by heartbreaking, you and your family fled kiv when the war began, but there’s a positive and a silver lining to every cloud. You have found a way to persevere and still find ways to help make the world truly a better place driving lots of impact with mama plant a tree. So Sana, tell us more about your nonprofit.

Oksana Butrameeva (15:48):

I just wanted to start first with thanking God that we did manage to flee that day safely with kids, with family. We were really privileged in that somebody went through a much harder state during first month and yes, I’m representing the company, which one completely they prioritized on the market. It’s a tech company. Were helping businesses to offset planting trees and doing different green initiatives in Ukraine, which was very successful. People allowed us, we loved what we were doing, we were super passionate about it. And then once the war started, of course we had to basically put everything on pause and we were just volunteering, helping families of our teams or our team then helping friends of friends doing all possible volunteering, which you could do once we managed to flee and have some shelters and housing helping other people with housing until we basically depleted any kind of funds that we had saved for other work.

(16:40):

So we realized that we cannot go back to Ukrainian market anytime soon because new climate solutions also some kind of progressive eco solutions that we were developing. And we actually wanted to do a lot of different pilots in key even 22 and that area, they’re just not on the table at the moment and we even didn’t feel right to promote it. This because the focus is completely shifted to saving lives, not to save the planet at the moment, but we understood that we still can do something for Ukraine while helping the planet. So we started to look at the west, at the West market kind of trying to attract businesses to plant with us, to set with us. So while they’re upsetting, we’re still doing something good for economy of Ukraine. And we embarked on the mission to de mine because it was our first basically problem that if we plant not only out outside of Ukraine because we plant in other countries as well, but if we plant in Ukraine, there are tons of forests which are mine lakes, mine, streets mine.

(17:37):

I cannot go to some forest around my mom’s area because we know their mined favorite lake of my kid is mine. So we embark on a mission to help demining this and we’re honored to enroll into Google startups. They helped us to develop different unique products which would be interested on the west market to offset with. And we are still developing them, finishing technologies to place them on a website. But the first immediate of immediate meat, which we placed was planted tree mine, Ukraine. So basically every tree that you’re planting, you’re contributing also to doing the social impact, not just upsetting, you’re helping to demine the areas of Ukraine. It’s still super hard because when you’re doing it with almost no budget for marketing or something, when you’re trying to holler with that little company in huge ocean of businesses, it’s truly hard. So every possibility to reach any kind of foreign audience is a golden treasure for us.

(18:30):

We highly appreciate it and we are still hoping that we will be able to help with that because right now for example, we are collecting for demining machine which costs from 600,000 to $1 million, it’s expense. We have to plant 1 million trees to buy that one machine and still it will take time to order this machine because the production of this machines is limited in the world. We’ll be somewhere in the line waiting for that machine. We need to demine all territory which is affected in Ukraine. We need six those machines and then we can speed up the mining time from whatever, 200 something. If we use only our regular work manual, which is manual at the moment in Ukraine, then we can split up it to around six, seven years, which is already better. But we need 60 of those machines. We have some countries that have contributed some eight and they sponsored I think up to 18 Ukraine already asked.

(19:16):

So what we also developing in the meantime in parallel we have one company which is focusing on developing the electronic machines and they want to develop a smaller, like a robot Hoover or something that shape little box that can go and demine some small areas, especially not in their civilian infrastructure but outside at the front where they need even more than we do. We can wait and they can’t need sometimes Demine area where they have to walk like right now and they can do it for really cheap, just the amount of those kind of electrical bags that we need them in hundreds. And that’s something that we are also attracting different NGOs to help us that can be faster, cheaper and probably more effective than just waiting for $1 million machine.

Scott Luton (20:03):

Ana, I’ll tell you Christie, and maybe even Vicky and Yaro, let’s all talk about it because out of all of that, that Ana shared the entrepreneurial spirit that will not be broken no matter what circumstances are to pivot, which I hate to use that cliche, but that’s exactly Sana. She dealt with the situation, made sure her family was taken care of, and then immediately it was about helping others and building a business and adjusting her business model to help more people. So now we’re talking about getting demining machines, goodness gracious, raising up the $6 million to really make such a practical impact. Christie, I am struck with Yarro and Ana words fail me right now. Your thoughts, Christie? Yeah,

Kristi Porter (20:43):

It has been a total privilege getting to know Ana over the last couple of years. And as you heard her story, I mean most of us would never be able to fathom something like that happening to our families and she’s done an amazing job and hasn’t slowed down. She had mama plant a tree before. One of the interesting things that just perusing her social media that I hadn’t thought of, I think it was a few months back when I was looking for something on her social media. But even just talking about, so sustainability is a huge initiative. It needs to be, but even just the practicality of tying, having trees around for soldiers to hide behind was something that I just had never thought of before. And so being able to tie it also very practically, no matter how you want to come at the issue, Oxon has done a terrific job of that.

(21:28):

And hearing the numbers of course for what these machines cost is one thing. The other thing though I want to point out is whether you’re a company sitting around with a million dollars to give hello right here, or you are an individual with 10 bucks, then you can still plant trees. And that’s one of the great things about being able to just contribute as an individual is it’s incredibly affordable. Oxana, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it was around it all or a tree last time I knew or something. So it’s something anybody can give to be able to put their cumulative efforts into doing this, whether it’s through the sustainability effort, the de demanding effort, whatever catches your attention, then they’re really working on a lot in very practical ways. And to be able for us to see trees planted that we paid for in Western Ukraine was super fulfilling. And just to know what’s happening there. Ana was also very strategic. She and Enrique, we did last winter, we collected letters written by children for children and soldiers in Ukraine. And Ana was very instrumental in that initiative as well in helping them get distributed. So she is the consummate entrepreneur. Every day is a new terrific idea and how to make a difference and how to keep this in people’s minds and hearts.

Scott Luton (22:41):

Yes, so well said. Vicki, I know you work with a variety of incredible people like Yaro and Sana and Noble missions, but if you would, what was your reaction to what Sana just shared there?

Vicki Bachmann (22:53):

I think it’s just empowering to hear the story of what Oxana just shared because it strikes me that there are so many, many minute details, so many different ways that we can help people in Ukraine right now. And frankly, that hadn’t been one that had come to my mind. So the fact that she has given her heart and her spirit to make this happen and try to improve the lives of the people there is really empowering to me and inspiring.

Scott Luton (23:20):

Well said Vicki. Same. Alright, one more quick question before we move on. So Yaro, as you have leaned into your mission and have connected with Ukrainians around the world that are doing similar things to what you and Sana are doing, if it were me and my fellow country, men and women, it would fill my heart with pride that despite the tragedy that continues to take place, we’re hoping and praying cooler heads prevail, we get a lasting peace so we can really make more progress rebuilding. But Yara, when you hear other people like Sana tell us about their noble missions, how does that make you feel?

Yaroslav Hnatusko (23:53):

Our resistance is quite strong and that our collaboration and our unity and all the accumulative brain power that we put together, and it comes also from Christie and Vector Global Logistics and Vicky and her nonprofit matter. I know that we are not alone because it’s a big fight, it’s a long fight. And just by ourselves we would never, in our example, we would never raise over $2 million how our East Tennessee community has plugged DNA into our humanitarian projects, how they responded, but also people all around the world, partners all around the world. We know that once we are distributing the aid at the front lines, we can tell people and show people that there is still hope on the ground and that they’re not alone and there is still somebody who thinks about them. And that’s very important for people to know.

Scott Luton (24:50):

Well said, Yaro and goodness gracious, I would add your practical resistance and resilience is global supply chain needs to learn from Sana and Yarro and your sheer will and ability to get stuff done, Ana before we move to Vicki and we’ll learn more about what matters doing because we really appreciate that organization and its incredible impact it’s making as well. Christie, I think we had another follow-up question both for Yarro and Ana. We wanted to ask, right?

Kristi Porter (25:15):

Yes, yes. We’ll try and keep them narrowed. There’s so many, and we talked about this, the three of us not too long ago, but I’m curious to hear your perspective now and as we have a larger audience to share with. But what is one thing, Yaro Sana, that you wish more people knew that was taking place in Ukraine right now and what aid are you hearing about is needed? We talked about mines, we talked about just the practicality of clothing and meals and all of that kind of stuff, but what do you wish people knew and what is a great way to help?

Oksana Butrameeva (25:49):

If we talk about a frontline? Yes, everybody would think that, well, when I cannot help, I’m not the politician, I’m not there. We still have to think about it, especially if you are guys, the citizens of the country who wasn’t that Budapest memorandum that were to protect us and everything. You still can watch your government, what they’re doing or if they’re doing what they promised. There is a lot of delays in providing their ammunition and artillery. Everybody. I have a lot of friends at the frontline, what they say with artillery. Yes, there are a lot of help that they need on medicine, that they need ammunition and everything, but artillery is the first thing that we cannot move. We cannot protect ourselves if we don’t have weapon. If we’re talking about the civilian side, as you say, we are very entrepreneurial and we even more, I think every family right now is an entrepreneurship, I don’t know base.

(26:36):

Everybody’s selling, everybody’s fundraising, selling what I mean, they’re selling something to get fundraising for another drone, another piece of something for that Bri, that briga. I just post several posts that we are fundraising right now for the car and I’m showing those videos, why do they need the cars, how often they explode and everything. The window shields, they’re broken and they are using the rope to move the window shields while they’re moving. It’s like it’s not even a middle age, it’s somewhere. So at the civilian side, Ukrainians are doing the job just the way to help them work with Ukrainians. My last call with my girlfriend, she said, thanks God, my husband still has a job but me. It’s just impossible to find anything new. And she’s a top manager, she’s speaks English and everything. She can do the remote job. Yes, she can move out, but she cannot leave half of their family there.

(27:24):

And so she chooses to stay in Ukraine. Those people who choose to stay in Ukraine, we need to, I don’t know, we need to worship them and we need to help just give them work, just work with them. Just cooperate B2B, B2C, anything the same with me? I’m one of those that I’m pushing this business to offset and there are tons of competitors so hard to go in there. So anybody who will work with me will contribute to the economy, will contribute to social impact. Anybody who is working with it, yes there is a huge risk, but there is a lot of, almost all IT companies have moved to the west. It’s almost safe. There are places which they don’t attack because it’s not strategically. So there are ways how to protect everything. Just try to find them. Don’t just give up on, oh, okay, you create risk. Ukraine equals risk. We cannot go there. We don’t do that. A lot of companies rejected to plant with us and Ukraine, they still can plant somewhere else with us, but in Ukraine. But just help us find ways how we can collaborate with you. This is something that everybody’s screaming for.

Scott Luton (28:24):

Thank you for sharing Oksana. I like how practical your response was. If folks out there, if you don’t have a demining machine or if you don’t have artillery or if you don’t have a million dollars, add a minimal lean into what Oksana, one of the main things she shared, work with Ukrainians. If you can give them jobs, if you can work with them as suppliers, customers, you name it. But what a great practical response. Christy, your quick response and then we’re going to hear from Yarra, I believe.

Kristi Porter (28:48):

Yes, that’s always what you can look forward to with Oksana. She has a lot of very practical on the ground ideas in a way for everybody to be able to get involved no matter what your resources are.

Scott Luton (28:59):

Yeah, Yaro your response. Christie’s question about what’s one thing you wish more folks knew about what’s going on in Ukraine?

Yaroslav Hnatusko (29:05):

My huge desire and my huge encouragement for people not to watch the news, not just because they’re polarized or any other reason, but because they provide a 50,000 foot view on the current humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. And in order for us to actually retrieve the stories, to process them, to filters them, we actually need to hear from those people first person. And just to give an example, this story happened last week and it happened between Vector global logistics and matter. And I shared picture with Vicki recently. We were able to ship a full container with medical supplies together and in one of the pallets matter put several wheelchairs, actually somebody who came back from the frontline happened to be in excessive amount of injuries, so lost the ability to walk and we gave them a specialized wheelchair and we received the pictures and he was the happiest man in the world. But what really struck me is that that person, he was not thinking the volunteers who help him, he was not thinking matter. He was not thanking restore Ukraine, but he was thanking God because he was able to provide him the help. And that’s what really took me some time to process and to absorb. And that’s what I wish for people to know. Those stories of the people who are there every single day.

Scott Luton (30:35):

Yeah, what a great sentiment there because in today’s news world we get high level to your point, snippets and we don’t get enough of individual human interest stories of how they’re being impacted and devastated on a very personal basis. As humans, I think we all take certain things for granted. And the experience that you’re pointing out there and you and Akana are talking about is certainly needs a lot more amplification. Alright, so y’all stay tuned. Don’t go anywhere just yet. I want to bring in Vicky here with Matter. Vicky, great to have you back. I love hearing Yaro talk about the wage. Y’all collaborate, Christie talking about that as well. Let’s level set just a bit. Tell us for the handful of folks out there that may not know what matter does, if you’d share that and specifically about some of the great work you’re doing related to aid for Ukraine. Tell us more.

Vicki Bachmann (31:20):

That sounds great. Matter is in its 24th year as a nonprofit and broadly our mission is to help people launch projects to improve communities. And we work in the areas of access to dignified healthcare, tech education. We have an agricultural initiative and then one that is around distributing non-perishable food to underserved youth in the United States. So on the medical side, if we go back to where we are working within the supply chain, what we are doing is collecting excess and expired supplies and equipment from hospitals around the country. So many of you might not know that annually there are 6 million tons of excess supplies and equipment within the healthcare field. And last year matter repurposed 6.6 million pounds of that equipment. It’s just a very small segment, but to give you a visual that equates to about 12 professional football fields of supplies and equipment that we are finding places to repurpose to outfit hospitals and clinics throughout the world to improve access to regular care and other places.

(32:31):

But also then to work with organizations such as Restore Ukraine and other organizations who are helping people around the world. So we started, we’re not an emergency relief provider, but when the Ukraine War started, we had people showing up at our door with suitcases and we gave them the chance to go to our warehouse and basically shop in our warehouse and fill their suitcases. And that quickly moved up to us providing containers and working with Yaro and organizations like his to send millions of dollars worth of supplies and equipment to help the people in Ukraine. So I have no doubt that we are helping thousands and thousands of people there. And when you think about in supply chain that there’s 6.6 million tons of excess and you can filter that down to the picture that we received last week from Yaro of one man in one wheelchair with a smile on his face saying thank you. I mean, that is really something that tells it all right there about how we are helping. And I feel really proud to be helping organizations like you all and working with Vector as well. And Christie,

Scott Luton (33:38):

As you should, man, Vicki Yaro and Ana, I’m so grateful. We’re all so grateful for people like you and leaders like you and what you do and the impact you’re driving on the individual level as well as in the greater good. Right? And man y are moving mountains. Christie respond if you would to what Vicky was sharing about matter. And then I’ve got just a couple of quick follow up questions.

Kristi Porter (33:57):

Yes. Well, before I do that, I want to have Vicky explain because she said expired, so I want her to explain a little bit about that so it doesn’t sound like things aren’t good anymore.

Scott Luton (34:08):

That’s a great clarification. Excellent. Call out Chrissy, Vicky.

Vicki Bachmann (34:11):

Yeah, so hospitals purchase supplies that they’re going to use for any number of their operations and those supplies just about all of them have an expiration date put on them. So everything from PPE down to surgical instruments, they all have an expiration date. So when hospitals have those supplies, they’ve reached the end of their life, they have a choice, they can either throw them away or they can find an organization like Matter to help them be repurposed. So we’ve worked very hard over the last several years to find places and channels that we can repurpose expired supplies because there are a lot of ways that they can be used either on animals or for training purposes with nursing schools and medical schools. There are some countries that will still accept expired products. So that’s what we are doing to try to keep those things out of a landfill.

Kristi Porter (35:04):

And if everybody goes to check their medicine cabinet, they’ll see old boxes and all kinds of things that are just as good now as they were at that expiration date. So that’s a great example of that. But I cannot begin to overstate matter’s role in this and how amazing Vicki has been to work with. I mean she immediately and to this day, two years later has been like, who needs supplies? We’ve got ’em to give, put me in touch, let’s make those introductions. And so a large part of leveraging logistics for Ukraine, I would also credit to matter because they’ve been incredible partner in this. And again, just willing to give, give, give and who needs it, make an introduction, let’s meet, let’s talk, let’s get them what they need.

Scott Luton (35:45):

GSD getting stuff done. We call that around here. Christie and I admire all four of y’all and the ability to do just that by the truckload, by the container load even bigger. Alright, really quick, Vicki, I was on your site earlier today and I wanted to share just a couple more statistics. So correct me if I’m wrong, Vicki, since its founding in 2002, matter has worked in 73 countries around the world and in 2023 alone, matter impacted the lives of 4.1 million people. Job well done Vicki. One last quick comment. I think you touched on earlier, how fulfilling it is to do what you do. Vicki, your quick comment, I mean I bet you just jump out of bed every day to help folks like you’re doing, huh?

Vicki Bachmann (36:27):

I do actually. I have worked in a lot of different roles in my life on the nonprofit side, on the for-profit side. And I cannot say enough about the team that I work with here at Matter. We are a very small passionate bunch and we are collaborative by nature. There is a tremendous consistent culture that exists here to drop everything and help one another to keep our mission in mind and help people to improve their lives in other corners of the world. So I can’t say enough about what an honor it is to be part of this organization.

Scott Luton (37:01):

Oh man. Alright, well thank you Vicki. Thank you Yaro. Thank you Aksana. Thank you Christie. To our audience out there folks, we got at least four ways you can take action today. There’s probably 4 million based on the conversation we’ve already had, but we’re going to give you four very easy and specific things and we’re going to do that by making sure you know how to connect with each of these organizations. And you’ve heard Chrissy mention leveraging supply chain and logistics for Ukraine several times that can help you connect with people like Vicki Yaro and Oksana and their incredible organizations. So let’s do that. Let’s see here. Let’s start with Yaro. What’s the easiest way for folks to connect with you? Yaro,

Yaroslav Hnatusko (37:39):

The most simple way for the people to find us, go to our website, restore ukraine.org. And on our contact page, they have an email. We always monitor it, we always answer to people and we would really love to find more ways like oxana was sharing, to collaborate with more people, with more communities, with more organizations, because that’s the aid that people need.

Scott Luton (38:02):

Agreed man, restore-ukraine.org. Check it out, plug into what yarro is doing there at a minimum. Folks, I think we’re dropping LinkedIn profiles at a minimum. Connect with these folks, these incredible people on LinkedIn, but visit their site, find the small or big way to jump in and support. Thank you so much for being here, but I think you’re speaking at an event you found a way to sneak in this hour. Thank you so much. How can folks connect with Mama Plant a tree?

Oksana Butrameeva (38:32):

Well, I would like definitely welcome you to our website. That’s where you can plant trees of sat and help mining. But I would really want everyone who has any kind of desire to help us or has any idea or any context who he can match us with. Somebody just contact me directly. There is a phone number that we can drop here, the chat or LinkedIn. Just contact me directly. I’ll find a ways how to use any kind of house that you provide and just help Ukraine by buying services from us. Buying art from a o buying tree, planting certificates from us, any kind of products, services, fish is good, but we can fish ourself. We’ll save time for you. We just need fish. And bros,

Scott Luton (39:18):

Ana, thank you. And I think I might be behind, we’ve got a link to the Ukraine WhatsApp group in the kind of behind the scenes chat folks. Again, you can connect via their social, their organizations, even the WhatsApp that Christie provided here, the Ukraine WhatsApp group. You can connect with folks like Yaro and Ana and Vicky and Christie, the whole nine yards, the whole gang. So y’all check that out. Okay. And also I think we shared this, but I want to make sure we hit it, mama plant@tree.com, check that out their website. And finally, Christie, while we still have Yaro here, I’m going to go ahead and Yaro, you’ve got time. You want to stay with us as we wrap up the show. You okay with that? Yes, I’m here for you. Okay. So Christie really admire the wonderful leadership, the action driven, outcomes driven leadership of the whole group here today. But what Vector Global Logistics does day in and day out to really build this global community and connect people so we can do big things together. So we really appreciate your personal leadership there as well. Two part question for you. What’s one of your favorite parts of today’s conversation with Yarro, Osana and Vicki?

Kristi Porter (40:27):

I think through conversations like this one, conversations that we have behind the scenes and in the WhatsApp group and on our bimonthly leveraging logistics for Ukraine calls, I think it’s just the creativity and how people use their resources to help others. I think that’s always so intriguing. One of the things that Yaro has been very passionate about as well through the art, through other things, and you kind of noticed it today here too, is talking about the positive aspects, the people who still have hope, the people who want to tell and share their stories. I think there’s that side. We have Vicki coming with the very practical of here we have medical supplies for you to give. We have Sana doing everything from planting trees to demining. So I think it’s just the fact that there are so many ways to help and there are so many ways to get involved.

(41:16):

No matter which aspect of it appeals to you, there’s something for everybody. And that’s the same just in our leveraging logistics for Ukraine community. We have people working on mental health, rebuilding everything you’ve heard today and so much more. And then just the fact that people want to use what they have to be able to give and how different all those gifts and skills and resources are. And I always think that’s so admirable and so compelling and it helps us all work together so much more because we can problem solve together so much easier when we come at it from different directions.

Scott Luton (41:51):

Oh, no doubt. No doubt. Whether it’s about humanitarian aid or whether it’s about any challenge in industry and humanity, when you bring all sorts of folks from different walks of life, there’s so much power in that diversity. So well said there, Christie. I think we might be grabbing Vicky, but I want to make sure that we offer up where y’all can learn more about matter and that is matter.ngo. You can learn probably more of what they’re doing with Ukraine, with Yarro and Ana and many others, and then what they’re doing in other engagements and projects around the globe. Okay. Christie, you mentioned a couple of times leveraging logistics and supply chain for Ukraine. How can folks plug into that?

Kristi Porter (42:29):

Yes. So a couple ways. I think the link will be dropped into the chat as well as just you can go to our website, vector gl.com and find it under a vector global giving. You’ll see a Ukraine page. Information is there every two months. Now we have a conversation. So we’re still doing, we were doing them obviously more frequently when the war broke out. So we’ve slowed to every other month now, but still having live conversations with amazing individuals like these who can talk about what they’re doing, ask for help. We problem solve, we brainstorm, we talk about needs, and then we also have of course the WhatsApp group where we can do that in between those calls. But anybody is welcome to join us. So we’ve had everybody from agents to trucking companies to I have ties to Ukraine somehow. Personally, I have nothing else to do with logistics, but I want to hear and I want to help. We’ve had everybody across the board join us and continue to welcome people into the group no matter how they want to help or how they just want to sit and listen to hear what’s going on and keep this news item still relevant

Scott Luton (43:31):

And be inspired, be inspired and motivated to jump in and help and support. So check that out. We drop the link in the chat. You want to click away from learning more about that and signing up. At least as Chrissy said, there’s no expectation you can sign up and just sit in. Listen, you don’t have to have your camera on. You can mute your microphone, but information is power and that’s how we change the world one hour at a time. Okay, big thanks, Yaro, co-founder and executive director with Restore Ukraine. Thank you Yaro for being here.

Yaroslav Hnatusko (44:02):

Thank you very much. It’s a big privilege for me to share my stories, the story of Restore Ukraine, and also the stories of many people who are on the ground.

Scott Luton (44:13):

Well, we look forward to rubbing elbows in person at some point soon, whether you’re coming down here to Atlanta or we’ll head up to Tennessee. How’s that sound

Yaroslav Hnatusko (44:20):

Looking forward?

Scott Luton (44:22):

Alright, and Sana, thank you so much for being here. Sana Reva, founder at Mama Plant a Tree. Of course, she is in Spain right now. Ana, if you’re ever passing through Atlanta, we hope to reconnect. But really words fail me here today. Kind of hearing what you and Yaro and Vicky and Christie, what are y’all are doing and moving mountains in these very challenging times. Ana, thank you for being here.

Oksana Butrameeva (44:46):

Thank you. I really appreciate that. You guys are pushing really hands-on taking us here. Christie, organizing all, you have to be there, Scott, just picking up on that. This is what you can do. This is your little, that’s how you work with Ukraine. Your little contribution. More than appreciated.

Scott Luton (45:02):

Thank you and appreciate you being here. And I love your final comment there because you do give from what you have, right? Everyone gives from what they have and just find a way no matter how small or how big, find a way to jump in and help these noble missions that we’ve heard here about from Sana Yaro. And big thanks to Vicki Bachman with Matter folks. Love what Vicki’s doing. Learn More at Matter ngo. And finally, Christie Porter Vector Global Logistics. We’ve invited folks to join these great conversations that go on once every couple of months. Thank you for being here and navigating this show with me here today, Christie.

Kristi Porter (45:37):

Of course. Yeah, it was a great conversation and look forward to continuing it. And thank you for all the support and help and promotions that Supply Chain now has partnered with us in the leveraging logistics for Ukraine initiative. So we’re grateful.

Scott Luton (45:51):

Absolutely, really appreciate that. Really appreciate the outcomes that that effort is delivering. Thanks to leaders like all three of y’all and many, many, many others. Folks, no matter where you are around the globe, hopefully you’ve enjoyed leaning into some of these incredible stories, leaders making things happen for so many people out there. But here’s the challenge. Here’s why we are here in this life. Connect, support, donate, get with Sana and Yaro and Vicki and Christie, and find a way with from what you have to give something, no matter how small or how big. That’s the challenge. Deeds not words. Global supply chain makes it happen. And on that note, on behalf of the entire team here at Supply Chain now, Scott Luton challenging you to do good, to give forward and to be the change, be like these folks here and the world’s going to be a much better place. We’ll see you next time, right back here on Supply Chain now. Thanks everybody about it.

Intro/Outro (46:42):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now, community. Check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain now, anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain. Now.